It is good
If it just had things like BBC iPlayer and used the TVDB it would be a killer product
I think the WD TV Live hub does what it says on the tin. But only just.
I wanted a reasonable amount of NAS storage for photos, mp3’s, and DVDs. It does that. Larger internal drive option would be useful.
I wanted to be able to automatically sync to specified separate folders on my pc for photos, mp3’s, and dvds. It doesn’t do that. It only syncs to one folder.
I wanted a polished GUI that allows you to operate it on your TV screen with the remote with a similar interface to something like iTunes, generating and syncing playlists, and playback options without going through deep menu structures. It doesn’t do that.
The browsing structure is awful.
I want it to strem content to my TV via hdmi. It does that.
I wanted ethernet connectivity. It does that.
i wanted wireless connectivity. It doesn’t do that without additional hardware.
I wanted it to remotely sync photos to my Android device. WDPhotos is supposed to but my hub won’t generate codes.
I wanted to remotely sync tunes to my Android device. Can do that on my own network only using iSync (not internet).
I want to specify where it should look to build the library for photos, mp3s, and DVDs. it doesn’t do that. It searches the entire drive for everything so I end up with movie thumbnails and coverart in my photo album. Not good.
If WD cannot be bothered to write a decent user interface there is a community out there that ought to be able to write custom firmware. Unfortunately they won’t touch it because custom firmware removes your ability to receive online services, even if you re-install WD firmware. Eeeurgh.
So far I rate it: “Meh”
1 Like
Some of the online services are good some are pointless. Today, we as consumers want our electronics to be snappy. Lag is thumbtwiddling is unacceptable. Those features that introduce those experiences to the product should be killed. we know its only a couple hundred dollar box and can’t do advanced stuff so don’t try to squeeze so much out of it. Less as they say is sometimes more.
I echo the comments regarding the media player and syncing folders capabilities. Fix those and I would buy one for every tv in the house. Each unit would content specialize. Photos, Music and Video then I would buy a big azz Naz instead of the DNS-323 I use today to back it all up and more. Solves my redundancy problem.
Only caveat…fix the copy speed to get content in the unit. Sometimes you just want a quick file of the unit and there is no quick way about it. This is lower on my priority list cause I would use the previously mentioned big azz nas for quick copies.
1 Like
Sounds like you have a very similar setup to myself. Thanks for the tips on 8 player…didn’t try airplay cause it was pay.
I got it main since it is one of the few that will play ISO files. The fact that it plays netflix is great. I’ve been using my PS3 for that, but since the WDTLH is a smaller machine it doesn’t cause as much heat. All the extra stuff is just an added bonus and if I use it or not doesn’t matter much to me.
I hope WD TV Live Hub will give the new features soon!!
I do not have a Hub yet…I looked at all the features and like them…From what I understand, the VUDU HD Movie service hasn’t been embedded yet, even though a Tech from that company said it should be available…My purpose for the Hub is simple, to watch my purchased HD movies downloaded from VUDU, and maybe later, to rip some of my BLu-Rays and HD-DVD’s…No photos, no music, just movies…I currently have almost 300 movies stored in the cloud with the service, not one problem with access at any time…
I like the Hub because of it’s internal hard drive…Hope WD upgrades it to a 2-3TB, as VUDU 1080P HDX files can take some space…The largest that I have is Avatar at almost 11GB…I currently have the original VUDU box, it’s somewhat oudated as it doesn’t pass thru DD+ audio…
